


Voltron's Black Market

by Paladins_Grace



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Hunk's food is used as currency, Rule Book, Some are better at it than others, Suspicious Hunk, The others trying to be sneaky
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-19
Updated: 2019-09-19
Packaged: 2020-10-21 15:57:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20696174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Paladins_Grace/pseuds/Paladins_Grace
Summary: Food (good food not goo) could become a scarce resource when there was an intergalactic war going on. Supply and demand dictates that as supply goes down and demand goes up that supply's value spikes.





	Voltron's Black Market

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Birthday part 2! As a warning to anyone reading this I tried writing in first person for the first time in... I don't remember. Experimentation doesn't always lead to success, but luckily I'm not the one who needs to determine whether it is that. A success.

Keith

_ Rule 1: Don’t tell Hunk  _

I ladled another scoop of soup into my container. Despite the nervous tension in my body I kept myself relaxed and loose. If Hunk happened to come in now, looking tense and suspicious wasn’t going to help-  _ if only Lance could learn that _ , I thought annoyed. My teammate was so dramatic about  _ everything _ , I couldn’t even tell what he was trying to say most of the time. Why couldn’t he just say what he means like a normal human? He was going to collapse the entire system by tipping Hunk off one of these days. After filling my container and securing the lid I walked back to my room- luckily not encountering anyone on my path. I unlocked my mini fridge, or whatever Coran called it, and stored my latest snag. I probably had enough to get Lance to do any chores I was assigned for the next week, maybe with enough left over to get Shiro to do some extra sparring the next time he was busy too. Getting him to go swimming could also be good- he really needs to relax more. I could plan that later; right now I needed to get ready for training.

Lance

_ Rule 2: Leave enough for all theft to be unnoticeable or easily disregarded _

The mullet looked smug earlier during training, he better not have taken the last of the soup! It wasn’t fair! I spent the most time with Hunk, so it was hardest for me to sneak food without him noticing. Stupid Keith just loved to rub it in my face by waiting until my supply was low then- I’d probably be doing chores this week. I pouted, that soup was so  _ good _ , I couldn’t just say no and be stuck with  _ goo _ . Maybe Shiro would cut a deal for some of his stash. That was usually used to motivate extra training though and Pidge- no. Not again, never again. If I was going to make a deal with her I’d have to hear everything up front. I shivered from the unpleasant memory,  _ I was never doing  _ ** _that _ ** _ again.  _ Coran was a wild card and he always demanded secrecy and Allura’s prices were ridiculous. A pained whimper escaped me, this was all so unfair! Maybe there was still enough left for me to sneak some. Hunk and Pidge were occupied with sciencey stuff so it should be easy. I crept to the kitchen, carefully checking around corners and keeping close to the walls as I went, until finally I reached my goal undetected. The containment unit cracked open silently, I took one last furtive glance around before rooting through the untapped potential of raw ingredients to find the polished meal.  _ Dammit mullet!  _ There wasn’t enough left to take another portion without Hunk noticing. I sighed heavily, guess I was going to be on clean up for awhile.

Shiro

_ Rule 3: Deals must be discussed covertly. You never know what Hunk may overhear _

“I think we should go swimming,” my adopted brother remarks casually. I’m trying to work on a report that a planet delivered recently, parsing out anything important from the pages of information.

“Maybe later Keith, I gotta finish this up first,” I try to forstall. I feel a little guilty knowing I won’t have time for several hours, but I’ll make sure to set some one on one time aside for Keith- I don’t want him to feel neglected.

“You need a break and if you don’t take one I’m cutting you off.” His threat causes me to examine him more warily. Experience says he doesn’t mean cut off from work. There’s always the possibility that he’s bluffing- it takes a lot of supply to pay off everyone else for lengthier periods of time. “I think I saw some leftovers we can grab after.” He’s gotten better at staying casual, this has almost acted as diplomatic training for the team. 

“Couldn’t we just have some after I’m finished here?” Maybe I can call Keith’s bluff, the stubborn look on his face is not reassuring; this might not be a bluff… “Okay, I can spare an hour,” my only choice was to relent.

“Two,” Keith’s tone was clipped- I hope this hasn’t actually made him mad.

“Two,” I agree amused. Keith narrows his eyes. Why does my amusement always cause suspicion? At least I’ll get some food out of it, maybe he still has some of those leftover cheese pop things.

Pidge

_ Rule 4: No takebacks on deals, if we can’t trust our agreements the whole system falls apart _

I yawn, it’s been a  _ long _ day, especially with Shiro’s extra drills. Did that man not understand that I wasn’t made for hours of running? It’s so much harder to concentrate when I’m exhausted like this- maybe I’ll make a “mistake” the next time he comes into my lab and activate the high powered magnet. Although that might be slightly traumatic and he wasn’t doing it to torture us; it was his overprotectiveness showing…  _ Stupid conscience.  _ I could have so much more fun as a villain, I rubbed my eyes trying to refocus.

“Here,” speak of the devil. Shiro set down a cup of coffee in front of me.

“I thought you said I shouldn’t drink so much?” despite my question I hugged the cup close to my body.

“You worked hard today and I know you’ve been developing a new scanner.” He probably used part of his own stash- the guy was too nice sometimes, but that wouldn’t stop me from abusing it. Better he learns from a friend.

“Thanks, would you get me some food too?” The puppy dog eyes were surprisingly effective against our fearless leader, it’s probably a good thing the Galra were more cat like. Wait was that why Zarkon was obsessed with the Black lion? Was she like a giant Galra to him?

“If you promise to go to bed at a decent time today- before midnight,” Shiro cut off my inhale to agree to the vague terms. 

I sighed, “Deal.” Working in bed technically didn’t violate those terms. “Speaking of deals…”

“What do you want?” Shiro sounds suspicious- I only made him do inventory once! It’s not my fault he had to clean and organize my lab in order to get it done.

“Just your more precise welding abilities.” 

“What would I be welding?” There’s that suspicion again! Okay maybe it’s a little justified, but still.

“I’m not paying for you to ask questions-” I need to add an incentive before he decides it’s not worth it- “it would only take 15 minutes.”

Shiro’s eyes narrow, “Okay, today?”

“Tomorrow.” The sucker didn’t realize those 15 minutes wouldn’t be consecutive and might require some heavy lifting to achieve. Too late for him now.

Coran

_ Rule 5: If it’s not in the main fridge- containment unit, fine- eat it in secret _

I headed back to my room with my payment, Lance had only requested a massage in exchange for the dish. Number two shouldn’t see me in the short trip-  _ it’s only a quaghop away _ \- but if he did the meal was expertly wrapped in a pile of clothes, he would never suspect. These challenges of secrecy and misdirection always got me pallooting, if only I still had the slipperies I could skate so much faster. Perhaps I could make something that would give the same effect? Some of the others may have ideas regarding it as well, cooking wasn’t number two’s only talent after all. 

Arriving back at my room presented a new puzzle to solve, it appears as if the door to it had been removed- likely by an explosion based on the scorch marks. Hunk and Pidge round the corner as I consider the culprits, holding a large door between them. 

They freeze as they notice me, “Hey Coran,” number two sounds nervous. “This- uh, what happened is-” 

“It was Lance’s fault!” our smallest paladin cuts in. 

I smile, “I’ve been with number three for the past varga, so that seems unlikely.”

“It was an accident! We’re sorry!” Hunk blurts out. This would make my plans for dinner a tad bit more difficult- I couldn’t very well eat or store the food without risking the wrong person seeing. Perhaps I could send him away for a couple doaboshes and save the food until a later time.

“Hmmm,” I hum, “it’s alright. Have you remembered to bring a scanner? They assist with alignment.”

“Right here,” number five sets down her side of the door to wave one around. What else could I send them off to fetch? The connector latches!

“What about the connector latches?” Hopefully they’ve forgotten them.

“The what?” Ah, good they’re confused- that bodes well for my chances.  
  
“The connector latches, they’re small pieces that allow the door to connect to the wall using electricity. Small cylinder whatchamacallits.”

“Ohhhhhh, that’s what those were for. We left them in the lab, we couldn’t fit them on to the door,” Hunk admits.

“I can help number five align the door while you retrieve them number two.”   
  


“Maybe I should stay here and do the aligning, it’s a little easier for me to manipulate the door compared to Pidge.” Number two’s well meaning suggestion was going to ruin my clever plan! 

“Sure, be right back,” number five jogged off before I could voice some reason for her to stay. Curses!

“You can put away your clothes first,” my internal agony was interrupted by number two’s suggestion.

“That’s quite alright, I can set them on my table and get back to them after we’re done here!” 

“It’s only going to take a minute to set this up,” curse this relentless use of logic!

“I’m sure number five will be back quickly.” I set my bundle down on the bed. Hunk grabs the door when I do without argument.

We work in silence for the next several doaboshes, “We really are sorry…” number two expresses guiltily.

“As I said earlier it’s quite alright- these things happen. Have I ever told you about the time Alfor and I set the swimming pool on fire?” I did love seeing the lost and confused look at that introduction.

“The  _ pool _ ? What-”   
  


“Got them!” Pidge runs back puffing.

It didn’t take the two long to finish setting up the door. “I trust you two will take care of the scorch marks another time?”

“We will,” they promise.   
  


“Excellent! Good start today!” The duo depart. I head into my room ready to enjoy my hard earned spoils.

Allura

_ Rule 6: Stealing can only happen during transportation- no theft from individual containment units _

On my way to the kitchen I spot Lance walking in the opposite direction, he’s carrying a tub of that new creation Hunk made the other day. I particularly enjoyed the way the crumbly sweets dissolved on my tongue. It would be irresponsible of me to not correct the way he was transporting the valuable cargo. As Altea’s princess and a leader it was my duty to help these humans learn- if I happened to get some sweets out of it well, leadership was a heavy burden. 

“Lance!” My call causes him to jump. He turns to look, but relaxes once he sees me- dismissing an opponent based on appearance is foolish.

He waves, “Princess!”

I walk over to him with no hint of my intentions, “I was hoping you would be able to help me with a couple of questions.” Asking questions will help distract him and give me a legitimate reason to move closer, now I simply need to come up with questions that will allow me to interact with him physically, or-

“Of course,” I felt a slight twinge of guilt at his open excitement. For the swee- team, to help them be more aware. All for the team.  _ Maybe this will make him treat me normally as well. _

“I was wondering how-” I tripped into Lance, he’s able to catch me without dropping the tub- perfect. “I apologize,” I breathe as I pull myself up with his help and slip a hand around the box unnoticed.  _ _

“You okay? Wha- hey!” I spun away neatly with the sweets firmly in my grip- and out of our Blue paladin’s. “Not cool!” He’s chasing, if I can just get to my room- I collide with something solid as I round the corner.

“Oof,” Shiro’s breath is knocked from him as I try to barrel past him; however I was not prepared for the leg that wrapped around my own sending me flying. Before I could register what had occurred the culprit- a certain Black paladin- was scooping up the treats and taking off. He did that on purpose! Lance passed me as I got up to steal back my prize. As Shiro turns the next corner a war cry that sounds like Pidge echoes through the hall- is  _ everyone _ fighting for these? I see Pidge swing from her bayard straight into Shiro, he doesn’t fall, but he stumbles. Pidge grabs the box and pushes off the much taller paladin to swing in the opposite direction,  _ they’ve grown so much, _ fondness fills me. Lance has almost caught back up to Pidge when she’s tackled by Keith at a crossroads. The container of sweets goes skidding being stopped by- 

“Hunk,” Lance greets. 

“Okay,  _ what _ has been going on?” None of us seem to know how to answer his demand. 

I clear my throat, “Training.” Everyone nods along with my explanation, but Hunk doesn’t look convinced.

“Training?” I suppose this does look bad. 

“It was spur of the moment,” Shiro elaborates, it’s too late to commit to any other story.

Hunk takes a moment to inspect the box, “Are these the macaroons I made yesterday?”

“ _ Very  _ spur of the moment,” Shiro’s ability to keep a straight, professional facade is impressive. I suppose it’s part of why he’s the Black paladin, controlling his own reactions could be part of staying in control. Part of me was jealous of how effortless he made it look after it took me years of training. 

“What do my macaroons have to do with it?” Hunk asks with a raised eyebrow- it seems that’s a human expression of disbelief. 

“Motivation,” Lance answers him cheekily as he walks over to the other and takes the box. “See you guys!” None of us can exactly go after him with Hunk there watching. I suppose he won this time.

Hunk

_ I am figuring this out.  _ Everyone had been being weird about my food for awhile now- especially Lance- and I was getting to the bottom of it. 

“Finished!” I held up the small camera to inspect it for any last touches. It should blend in with the containment unit interior and hopefully it would resist whatever it did to preserve food so perfectly. That was definitely something I needed to ask about for Earth. My walk to the kitchen is uneventful, but upon entering Lance darts his head out of the containment unit guiltily. 

“Hunk! Hi! What are you doing here?” my eyes narrow. He was being weird again.

“I just thought I’d do some cooking, you hungry?”

“Not really, what’re you gonna make?”

My eyebrow raises, “You were looking in the fridge though,” I point out.

Lance laughs- a little nervously, “Just felt like a small snack.” 

I move past him to the fridge and pull out some fried nuts and some ingredients I can use for a stir fry.

“Thanks, I’ll get out of your way now,” we say our farewells and Lance leaves.

Time to get down to business. Setting up the camera is easier than I anticipated and it’s practically unnoticeable, I’ll have to make an actual stir fry now to keep Lance from getting suspicious. Cooking was relaxing at least.

An hour and 15 minutes later I put the completed dish in the containment unit and leave for Yellow’s hangar- time to wait and watch. That first day didn’t yield any results, but the next day…

“Keith seemed to really like this…” That was Shiro! I wonder if he talked to himself like that regularly. “Should be worth some maintenance work, he’s got an eye for detail.” What. They were using my food as currency. Without telling me. My food was meant to be shared and enjoyed by everyone! And I wasn’t getting any of the profits for this! This would not stand, back to planning…

It took me a few days- the liberation of that last planet delayed things- but I finally had everything set up. Target One: Lance. He said he was going swimming, which means he’ll have nowhere to run. I gathered my supplies and set out. By the time I was done all of them would think I have exclusive deals with them, what could go wrong?

**Author's Note:**

> I might make a part two or a second chapter because that ending felt a bit like a cop out. I'm not opposed to comments or criticism.


End file.
